


Together

by FawnoftheWoods



Series: My Logical Cure - McSpock [5]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-08 03:43:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8829043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FawnoftheWoods/pseuds/FawnoftheWoods
Summary: Something is troubling Leonard.  Spock tries to puzzle it out and learns more about his mate's past than he knew before.  Surrounds Bread and Circuses Episode





	1. Communication

Leonard H McCoy was the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Enterprise.  He was a passionate doctor with strongly held moral principles.  He was also in a terrible mood. 

Christine huffed as she ducked out of sick bay on her break.  Her boss was a trying person to work for at times, but usually his heart was in the right place.  Most of the time she could trace his foul mood to the loss of a patient or the bearer of extraordinarily bad news.  Since neither was the case here, in fact Sick had been quite empty all day, she was turning to the other common explanation, their first officer.

Only a few people on the ship knew that they were mates, but most had at this point guessed at least that they were close friends if nothing more.  The rumor was that they debated in Spock’s quarters every night until late.  Christine had needed to leave the room when she heard that one.  She’d barely made it to the hall before giving in to the urge to laugh.  She was sure they debated, but she doubted that was foremost on their minds at night.

Every now and again they would have an actual disagreement, usually Doctor McCoy would lose his temper and say something he didn’t mean.  Then he would grouch around for a bit before apologizing.  The medical staff had learned to stay out of his way when this happened.  They’d learned to stay even further from Spock.  The man might be the very definition of emotionless most of the time, except when it came to either the captain or his mate.  Watching him grit his teeth was a sure sign that any blatant ‘human-ness’ was going to be met with less than tolerant criticism.

Stepping onto the bridge, Christine reminded herself why she was braving that scathing wit.  Doctor McCoy had nearly taken of an orderly’s head for giggling.  Usually he said laughter was the best medicine so any medical professional without a sense of humor was missing half their arsenal.  If it was martial, she wanted to know so she could reassure the staff.  Being head nurse with Doctor McCoy as a boss had meant being a buffer between her sometimes crass CMO and the rest of the medical staff.

She looked over to the side to see the familiar scene of a Vulcan scanning away at the approaching system.  They were on a search mission and those always made their senior officers protective of the crew.  As if it reminded them that someday someone might be sent to search for them because someone found the wreckage of the Enterprise like they had found the Beagle two hours ago.  Noting briefly the lack of urgent activity on the bridge, she decided that professionally it was safe to interrupt Commander Spock.

“Mr Spock?”  A twitch of the shoulder said he had heard her and was simply finishing his thought before turning to her.

“Nurse?”  His head was cocked in curiosity.  He seemed amiable enough.  She fumbled a moment before handing him the weekly medical report.  He glanced at it in confusion.  Usually McCoy used it as an excuse to haunt the bridge and sometimes engage in mental aerobics, as he called it, with Spock.  If he couldn’t take the time, it usually meant sick bay was swamped in which case Christine couldn’t either and they would send it up with a yeoman.

“The weekly medical report, sir.”  He stared at it.  She could see his mind turning over possible reasons for her presence.  She hoped her boss didn’t pitch too big a fit when he discovered she had delivered it.  She hadn’t exactly made sure he heard her.

“Thank you, Nurse.”  He was looking mildly perplexed as he glanced between the report and her.  She was careful to maintain a blankly calm face.  McCoy’s absence was enough of a mystery without adding her emotions to the mix.  She nodded and turned away, both satisfied she had roused her boss’s mate’s curiosity and worried, because she was now at a loss to explain her superior’s actions.

000

He hadn’t been back in his own quarters much recently.  Being Spock’s mate meant he spent most of his at-home time in Spock’s quarters, not his, but today he went there.  He probably owed his staff an apology.  He’d try to dredge one up tomorrow.  It wasn’t their fault he’d royally screwed up ten years ago.  He sighed and reached over for the picture.  At least she was smiling in the picture.  She hadn’t smiled like that for him in years. 

Sighing, he placed the picture face down on the bed and sat next to it, head in his hands.  Every year it was the same thing.  This year hurt even worse. 

The door chime interrupted his descend into self pity.  Sighing heavily, he prayed for patience and called for whoever it was to come in.  The purposeful stride of his Vulcan first officer annoyed him.  So did his assessing gaze and his curious frown.  He also remembered irately, that the first officer was on duty.

“What do you need, Spock?”  Even he could tell that his voice was testy, but he was in no mood for a battle of wits right now.  That damn eyebrow went up. 

“I came to inquire on your health, Doctor.”  He looked up at the half Vulcan.

“Are you becoming a Doctor now, Mr Spock?”  The frown became more pronounced.

“No Doctor-”

“Then trust me to do my damn job!”  He had definitely sacrificed enough to at least do that right.  The cost had been the best of his life, but he had to live with it.

“Mr Spock to the Bridge.”  It sounded like whatever they had been looking for on this hunk of rock had been found, or at least something interesting had been found.

“How about you go do you own damn job, and I’ll do mine!”  Spock stared at his mate with blatant concern on his face.  Usually he had to actually annoy the Doctor before the Doctor started snarling at him.  This time he was at a loss.  Eventually his duty won out and he nodded to the Doctor as he headed to the bridge.  Privately he vowed to annoy the Doctor until whatever was truly bothering the man was shouted at him at the top of the human’s lungs.

000

He gritted his teeth as he felt helpless rage slip past his shields.  His friends really were not good for his emotional stability sometimes.  He didn’t know where the Captain was, but he did know he was there alone.  Never a good sign. 

He also was locked in a cell with his irate mate who had nearly died today.  Though the fight had given the Doctor a much needed opportunity to let off some steam, he wasn’t sure that was enough.  Spock still had not discovered the cause of the human’s anger and he had shielded himself off since early this morning.  And it was genuine anger at this point.  It might have simply started as sadness or anxiety, but by the time he had found the doctor in his quarters, it had morphed into anger.  Respect for the Doctor’s privacy kept him from trying for telepathic contact, but he was still well aware of his mate’s anger.

He felt his own anger boil over again and he gave the bars he had been meticulously examining a shove.  Aside from giving him an estimation of their strength, it also helped him diffuse some of the emotional difficulties of the situation.

“Angry, Mister Spock, or frustrated, perhaps?”  He sighed.  As he turned to his quiet mate.

“Such emotions are foreign to me, Doctor. I'm merely testing the strength of the door.”

“For the fifteenth time.”  He ignored that as he resumed his study of the bars as they attached to the wall.

“Spock... Spock, I know we've had our disagreements. Maybe they're jokes….I don't know. As Jim says, we're not often sure ourselves sometimes, but what I'm trying to say is-“

“Doctor, I am seeking a means of escape. Will you please be brief.”  He looked at his mate.  The distance between them was almost as aggravating as the bars he had been studying, but at least he didn’t mind expelling adrenaline on the bars.  He saw that his words, while logical, had probably not been the most tactful choice when the Doctor was embarrassed and angry at the same time.

“Well, what I'm trying to say is you saved my life in the arena.”  Since he had been thoroughly shouted at earlier for stating the obvious, the fact that McCoy was now doing so was annoying.

“Yes, that's quite true.”  He withheld the human phrase, ‘what is your point?’ as implied.

“I’m trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin!”  Spock had never understood the need to lead into an expression of graditude, but then again the expression of graditude was similarily foreign to his culture.  To quote his father, “One did not thank logic”.  He had learned of the concept on earth and from his mother and had generally adapted to its use and place in his life.  Right now, however, the illogic of it annoyed him.

“Oh, yes. You humans have that emotional need to express gratitude. You're welcome, I believe, is the correct response.”  Electric blue eyes flashed at him in anger.  That sentence had contained a bit more derisive frustration than normal.  So much for Vulcan control.  He turned away from his mate and reached for the mantra for control and to settle his disciplines.  Leonard could always overwhelm his Vulcan training.  Gripping his shield firmly and raising them, he felt along the bars, speaking again.

“However, Doctor, you must remember I am entirely motivated by logic. The loss of our ship's surgeon, whatever I think of his skill, would mean a reduction in the efficiency of the Enterprise and therefore-”  He hadn’t been expecting the doctor to touch him.  Jerking him around to face the now furious man startled him into silence as his human mate hissed at him, beyond angry.

“Do you know why you're not afraid to die, Spock? You're more afraid of living. Each day you stay alive is just one more day you might slip and let your human half peek out.”  Spock recalled once Leonard had said he couldn’t afford to get really mad.  He turned away from the vitrol.  His mate was out of control.  The contact had flared their bond enough to know that his mate hurting.  This anger that he had been courting all day was defensive and full of self loathing.  Feeling that, Spock could now see it in the normally kind face and finally saw that the person Leo was trying to hurt was himself. 

“That's it, isn't it? Insecurity. Why, you wouldn't know what to do with a genuine, warm, decent feeling.”  If he didn’t stop the Doctor, he wasn’t the person who was going to bleed.  Spock had never met someone as capable of punishing themselves as Leonard.  He needed to shock him out of his rant and back into the present.  Thankfully, letting his shields fall in front of his mate was easier when they were alone.  He turned back to the human.

“Really, Doctor?”  He saw the uncomfortable look cross Leo’s face as he became aware of just what he had been saying.  He looked down flustered.

“I know. I'm worried about Jim, too.”  Spock turned back to the bars.  He heard Leo get up and the soft scuffs of his footsteps as he walked across the cell, probably to sit again.  Leaving the bars alone, and thoroughly out of ideas of what to try next, he turned back to the human.  He wasn’t surprised to see him hunched over his knees, head in his hands. 

Rising silently he crossed the cell and knelt in front of the trembling man.  He reached out and slowly pulled the hands away from the face.  Bloodshot eyes told of unshed tears and he realized just how close to breaking down his mate was.

“Leo, will you not tell me what has caused your distress?”  Those blue eyes darted down and the brown head leaned forward until it rested on his shoulder.  He let the wrists go to reach up and take hold of the shoulders. 

“I’m sorry Spock.”  Spock glanced at the brown hair next to his face.

“An explanation would be of more use.”  A shakey breath told him Leo had regained at least enough of his sense of humor to snort at that comment but not enough fortitude to respond naturally.  Normally any comment on an apology or thanks was met with irritation.

“I’ve mentioned that I have a daughter?”  Spock leaned back as Leo sat up and leaned against the wall.  He was staring at his hands.

“You have.” 

“She graduates this year.  College.”  Spock didn’t know what to respond with, so he held his silence.  Leo apparently didn’t need a response anyway.  “Today is her birthday.” 

“Every year I call.  I mean besides those monthly calls you’ve seen me make. She lives with friends at school on Cerberus.  Agricultural Botany.  She wants to heal plants and help communities with food shortages.  Each time I get either her mother or Jake, her boyfriend.  They’ve been together two years, but my daughter won’t even talk about marriage until she has her degree.  We ran into each other at a conference on insecticides in rural communities two years ago.  We talked for several hours.  I thought she’d take my calls after that, but when I called a week later, she wouldn’t speak with me.”

“This time I asked when her graduation started so I could be there, but she doesn’t want me there.”  Spock couldn’t help but stare at the Doctor.  The level of ostracizing he was describing wasn’t something he had ever thought possible for a human family.  Especially by a child raised by this caring man.

“I could hear her from the other room where Jake had gone to ask her.  She had just screamed to leave her alone.”  Leo looked up at Spock, eyes bright.  “My marriage was destroyed because I worked too long hours and ignored my family.  That’s why I’m alone.  This may be one of those mistakes you simply can’t fix.” 

“Perhaps you should go to her graduation.”  Leo looked at Spock.

“But-”  Spock raised an eyebrow.

“She does not need to see you.  However, this appears to be important to you.  You should go.”  Leonard blinked at him.  Apparently this idea hadn’t occurred to him.  Spock knelt on the seat and leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching.

“Also, I believe a mate is family even to a human, therefore, you do have a family.  Mother and I both consider you close family and my family on Vulcan has already adopted you and would your daughter, if possible.  You have a family, T’hy’la.  Do not say you are alone.  You no longer are alone.”  Leonard’s wide eyes met his and in a mirror motion that spoke of their bond, they moved together.

Normally when they kissed it was a mix of lips and fingers, a salute to both cultures.  This time, however, Spock trapped Leonard’s wrists and drew on his excellent memory of kisses from his mate.  Meticulously, he poured his telepathy into the contact between their lips as he massaged and caressed a moan out of his T’hy’la.  He had known Leo’s ex was a sore point, but he hadn’t ever heard any details.  The idea that Leo was still alone was a stain Spock wanted to wash away.

“Bohraya.”  He relished the name mumbled against his lips.

“Not here, T’hy’la.”  Not in a jail cell with Jim in unknown danger.  He backed away, meeting Leo’s gaze.  Gently Leo freed one of his hands and lifted it to caress Spock’s face.  It was a habitual motion the human had developed months ago and one Spock doubted he would ever tire of.  The brief sensation of telepathy and barest caress usually made his nerves tingle.

The flashing lights broke their spell and they both looked up.  Spock was about to comment on electricity when Leonard yelped next to him.

“Jim!”

000

Spock watched as Leonard left the bridge.  He had said something about an apology he had to make.  Spock let him go.  He had some research he needed to do.

It was late when Leonard came to Spock’s quarters that night.  He had been talking, first with his staff, then later with Christine.  Spock found their friendship a curious thing.  Nurse Chapel had been quite infatuated with him for some time and Leonard was his mate now.  He had asked Leo once about jealousy, but Leo had simply grinned and said that they joke or commiserate over Spock.  Spock had asked what about, but he had simply smiled and said exactly.  Spock didn’t understand, but he wasn’t entirely sure this was information he needed to know either. 

Spock looked up from his reading when his human came through the door.  Leo had needed several weeks before he could move about Spock’s quarters in the dark with relative ease.  Spock knew the quarters were still too dark for Leo’s human eyes to see, but Leonard scolded him whenever he tried to raise the light in the evenings, so Spock had left his mate to his devices.   There was only one thing Leo couldn’t do without light in Spock’s quarters.

“Spock?”  And that was find him.  He was naturally silent and rarely in the same place two nights in a row.

“I am here.”  Leo stretched as he removed his blue medical shirt and dropped it in the hamper as he crossed the room and into the light of the screen.

“It’s too late to be reading research reports still.”  Spock ignored the jab at his nocturnal habits and handed Leo a lighted PADD as he walked over to discard his own uniform.  Leonard looked down at the PADD.

_Symposium on Star Radiation on Inhabited Ecosystems_

Leo scanned the summary of the conference regarding the radiation produced by difference star types and its effect on an ecosystem.  It was a fascinating topic.  Reading down he read the Date, and location.  The location stopped him cold.

_Cerberus_

He read the next line to see it was a graduation schedule for Cerberus University of Science.  It was the day after the end of the Symposium.  They were even in the same city.  Leo stared at it a moment, trying to rein in his emotions when he heard his mate comment from across the room.

“Do you wish to go?  We have enough leave.”  He placed a hand over the graduation announcement of his daughter’s class.

“Thank you, Spock.”  He felt strong arms come around his middle.  A hot breath spoke into his ear.

“I’ll verify our seats tomorrow.  We can request the leave then.  We’ll stay a few days after.”  Leonard leaned back against him, eyes falling closed.  The PADD was gently lifted from his hands.  A strong arm pulled him back against the powerful chest.

“Bohraya…”  The whisper set Spock’s blood burning.  He had come over to caress his mate into a blissful abandon, to take care of Leo as the Doctor took care of all of them.  Yet that word made his heart pound.

“T’hy’la.”  One set of long fingers rose and, through the dark fabric, began to twist and pinch a male nipple.  He growled in the round ear before closing his teeth around the shell.  Leo moaned as his head fell backwards and his hand scrambled along Spock’s waist for a grip. 

One hand finally made its way up and pinched the point of an ear.  A moan vibrated its way out of Spock’s throat as the hand currently on Leo’s stomach began moving south.  The pressure on the cloth caused Leo to buck, grinding himself back against Spock’s already turgid shaft.  A hand gripped his wrist and together they pumped the tight cloth.

Fingers twisted in Spock’s hair and he found his lips relocated to his mates.  Pulling on their bond, he devoured Leo’s mouth hungrily, tasting every corner of the cooler cavern with his long appendage.  He felt the frantic moaning from his mate and released the much abused nipple to reach under the waist of his shorts.  After be relieved of the task of fondling insanity out of Leo, the freed hand reach up to the neglected nipple, pulling at it and drawing an urgent moan from the human.

Spock could tell that Leo’s arousal was telepathically pulling him along and he opened their bond wider until he felt the merging begin.  Releasing the delectable mouth both to give his partner some air and to close his teeth around the thin neck bared to him.

“Bo-hra-ya!”  Leo was beyond thought as Spock felt the ecstasy overwhelm him.  His hand left the nipple to grip his suddenly limp mate under the arms.  He nuzzled Leo’s neck as the human panted in front of him, held up almost entirely by the strong arms wrapped around his middle.

“Wow…”  That word was all that came out between pants as his T’hy’la’s head was leaned back to rest against Spock again.  “Bohraya, you are amazing.”  He loosened his grip and bit and Leo turned to face him.  Precise hands caressed his face and he felt their bond flood with sensation.  Leo leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

“Come to bed.”


	2. Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonard and Spock go to Joanna's graduation. They meet someone Leonard's been avoiding for years.

Leonard ducked as he passed another harried waitress.  With the Symposium over, it seemed like every scientist had decided to eat at the restaurant in the hall before leaving to wherever they were headed.  Leonard and Spock were no exception.  Leonard rather thought they should revise that plan.  They were heading to the graduation in an hour and had thought this would be a quick bite, but in this crowd, Leonard had his doubts. 

He could see on Spock’s face, the half-vulcan agreed with him.  Getting through this crowd could take most of the hour they had and neither liked it.  Seeing a side exit, Leonard gripped Spock’s hand tightly and made for it.  It was a sign of how much Spock trusted him, that the scientist came along without any comment.

“Whew.  I say we eat near campus.”  Leonard panted a moment on the street.  Spock glanced around before he spotted a public transport station.

They had been here the entire Symposium.  Four days of science and four nights of a hotel with a bath tub, which Leonard had taken no time in introducing Spock to upon checking in.  Jim had hated letting them both go, but he had relented eventually and had declined to join them, stating science was not his preferred method of relaxing.  Leonard figured Spock had been counting on that and that was one of the reason he had suggested this Symposium. 

It also had been a good distraction for Leonard and had taken his mind off his daughter for five minutes at a time.  McCoy frowned as Spock surveyed the public transportation map.  He had tried to participate in the Symposium, but Spock had needed to help him through much of it.  He had been a buffer against the scientists who wished to talk technical and Leonard had been too anxious to understand some of it.  He’d make it up to Spock later.  They could review the topics on the way home and pick them apart then.

“Spock we want this one.”  Spock glanced at him from the map.  Leonard had been here before and knew where they were going.  The trip to the university wasn’t a terribly long one and Leonard spent much of it remembering his daughter as she had looked two years ago.  If she truly did not wish to see him, he’d just drop off the present and leave. 

Years ago when she had started school, he had gotten her a charm bracelet.  Each year she received a charm from him until high school.  On her high school graduation he had given her a new bracelet to replace the small old one, complete with all the charms he had already given her.  When she had been accepted at Cerberus, he had sent her a charm that he had found of a three headed dog.  He’d thought she’d like the joke and she loved dogs.

With her Bachelor’s he had sent her a charm with a stalk of wheat and for her masters the medical symbol with two plants around it instead of two snakes.  He had had it made for her by a friend.  The same friend had made the charm he had in his pocket.  It was the two open palm helping hands, but instead of a heart in the middle, it was a seedling.  It reminded him of the first day she had come home from school with a baby bean sprout.  She had held it all afternoon until he had gotten home from the clinic.  He hoped she liked it.

Spock had also brought an imaging device.  If nothing else, Leonard could walk away with a picture of his little girl earning her doctorate.  That thought made him smile as they got off the transport and began the short walk to the auditorium.  They picked up sandwiches en route.  He saw many parents, ducking when he saw his ex.  He let Spock lead them to a pair of seats and he sat and waited, fingering the small box nervously. 

He hadn’t decided quite yet on when he should try to see his daughter.  Right after the ceremony, or before she got changed?  He could head to her place or wait in the parking lot.  Long fingers covered his and he looked up at his mate.

“Leo, you are not alone.”  He had to smile.  Spock had started saying that sporadically since they had set this visit up.  At first it had puzzled him, but the longer Spock said it, the more it came to mean something to him.  Slowly he felt himself believe those words.  They weren’t said in a gentle or passionate voice, but in the solid conviction with which he recited facts.  He wasn’t trying to convince him, simply remind him.  That made all the difference.

The ceremony was similar to others Leonard had witnessed, perking up when he finally spotted his daughter.  He saw Spock surrepticiously take a few images and he left him to it.  Spock’s goal in coming seemed to be to remind him to stay calm and to get pictures for home.  If he met Leo’s daughter that was good, but right now he seemed more focused on Leo.

She was awarded honors and cheered with the rest of her class when the speeches were done.  Leo and Spock clapped with the rest of the parents and stood.  Leonard was getting more nervous about finding and then seeing Joanna.  Finally he growled at himself, enough was enough. 

Locating her, he waited until she was heading to change.  He had been approaching her when his ex appeared.  Leonard froze.  Jocelyn was one person he couldn’t see.  The pain of their divorce was stil raw.  But more than that, she kept it raw.

He watched as Jocelyn and Joanna walked to the changing rooms.  He waited until they came out again and saw them heading out.  They seemed to be heading the same place.  Sighing, he supposed he’d be heading to Joanna’s place then.  He was avoiding his ex-wife no matter what.  Joanna did not need them fighting on this day of all days.

He looked around to find Spock, but the Vulcan hadn’t gone anywhere.  Spock was standing behind him and had been for a few minutes.

“We’ll catch her at home.  I don’t want to run into Jocelyn.”  Spock simply nodded and followed him out.  He didn’t know that Spock had spotted Jocelyn earlier when Leonard had pointed her out and had seen something he hadn’t.  Jocelyn had in fact, spotted Leonard and the look on her face when she did had shaken Spock.  It wasn’t annoyance, as Leonard had described, it was utter hatred and petty sadism.  He saw her glance their way as she followed her daughter out of the building.  The grin that covered her face was quite disturbing and Spock decided Leonard did not need to be alone near this woman.

“I guess they went out to eat.”  Spock looked at the house they were in front of, he had been deep in thought. 

“Unless you are hungry, we can wait.”  Leonard shrugged, looking at the house uncertainly.  Spock reached into the bag he had been carrying and pulled out a PADD.  They found a comfortable spot of grass and sat to discuss the possible effects a dwarf star had on the genetic evolution of plants in an ecosystem. 

\---

“Hey, what are you doing here?”  They looked up from the diagram of the samples of corn under radiation to see a lanky young man trot over with his two friends.  Standing, Leonard studied the boy a moment before he placed Jake. 

“Jake?  I’m Leonard McCoy.”  He saw a look cross the tanned face before it was covered.  He turned back to his friends and waved them inside.  They gave him a strange look, but eventually shrugged and headed in the house.  Jake turned back to the pair.

“What are you doing here?”  Leonard couldn’t tell whether Jake was panicky or just angry.  Either way it didn’t make much sense.

“I’m here to Congratulate my daughter.”  Jake glared at him and Leonard frowned.  This was a more extreme reaction than he had expected.

“She didn’t want you here.  I told you that.”  He glanced at the house a second and then back at the bristling man.  He was starting to get confused.  It was one thing for Joanna to say he was unwelcome, but this level of protective attitude was usually reserved for abusive or dangerous people.  He was neither.  His mistake with his daughter had been a lack of attention, not negative attention.  In fact, his impression of his daughter two years ago had simply been reserved, not annoyed, and certainly not frightened.

“I simply wanted to give her a gift and wish her well.”  Jake waved.

“She doesn’t want anything from you, don’t you get it.  Take a hint and get lost!”  Leonard took a step back from the blatant anger being projected by the young man.

“I wasn’t aware she thought of me so badly. I just-“

“Yeah, well she does, now beat it!”  Leonard stared at the man who was probably going to become his son-in-law someday.  Did Joanna really hate him that much?  She never took his calls, but active hatred?  She really wanted him completely out of her life?

He glanced at Spock, who was staring stonily at Jake.  Leonard could feel his discomfort at being in such close proximity to such high strung emotion.  More so because it was negatively directed towards Leonard.  He looked back at Jake before nodding.

“Alright.  Just tell her she can always contact me if she ever needs anything.”  Jake sneered at him.

“Like she can trust that!  Go to hell!” Leonard flinched at the accusation, but turned and started down the road anyway, prepared to break his last attempt to reach his daughter.  He felt Spock walk next to him, but he was glad the Vulcan didn’t touch him right now.  He felt he would explode and he’d prefer to do that back at the hotel.

It felt like a lonely walk, the present weighing heavily in his pocket, but not as much as the lump of molten rock in his chest.  He remembered his daughter as she had been.  He had taught her to dance when she was twelve.  She could do the old fashioned dances and the newer, more hip dances for high school.  They had spent several afternoons dancing together.  She had worn blue to be just like her dad.

He had given her her first biology lesson when she was eight.  She had asked how the caterpillar became a butterfly.  She was always asking questions like that.  They had spent the afternoon discussing the life cycle and how important plants were to it. 

She had brought him that baby bean sprout when she was six.  They had studied the seeds in school and she didn’t want to kill it now that the lessons were over so she had brought it home to Daddy.  Daddy made everybody feel better. 

He had been there to place her on the first public transport to school when she was five.  She had squeezed his hand and hid behind his leg.  He had knelt down and given her a great big hug and told her that when she got on that transport, she was going to a brand new and exciting world.  Sometimes it could be scary, but it could also be fun.  Which ever it was, if she needed to see Daddy all she needed to do was close her eyes and remember that Daddy loves Joanna.  Always.

He remembered her birth.  She had been a small scrap of red human.  The most beautiful baby in the universe.  She had opened her bright blue eys and looked up at him and smiled.  He had leaned over and held her hand.  He knew then what he knows now.  He closed his eyes against the tears as he recited the words from memory.  Words he had said to her every night when he got home, whether she was awake or asleep.

“ _Daddy loves Joanna more than life.  For all our lives, Joanna is Daddy’s daughter. Nothing in the universe or beyond changes that.”_    He stopped on the sidewalk, swallowing a sob, hunting for the strength to walk the rest of the way back to the hotel.

“Daddy?”

\---

Leonard spun and looked in awe at his daughter.  She was panting out of breath as she stared at him.  She had thought she had imagined him in the audience at the ceremony, but here he was.  His friend seemed at a bit of a loss, but she knew exactly was she wanted from her father. 

He lifted a hand.  It had a small wrapped present.  A charm.  She knew it was another charm.  He gave her the same smile he had given her when they were in that courtroom ten years ago.  That one that said he loved her, no matter how sad he was.

“Congratulations Joanna” She barely heard him as she stared at the present.  She didn’t care about the damn present.  She rushed at her father.  His arms came around her as fast as hers were around him.  She hadn’t hugged him when they had met two years ago and she had spent two years regretting it.  She was 24 now.  She was legally allowed to go find him and had he not come, she would have done just that, if for no other reason than to slap him one.

She felt him squeeze her and she knew he had the same tears running down his face that covered hers.  Sniffing, she stayed in the hug a moment, until she remembered that she had just ran him down.  She released him instantly and he let her.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”  She glared at him.  He seemed to quail under the glare.  Good!  She hated running in high heels.  Instead of answering her he held out the gift again.  She frowned at it.  She had liked the last two for her other degrees, but she had wanted him.

“Dad!”  She crossed her arms and glared at him.  “Why were you leaving.  You were at the ceremony weren’t you?  Why the blazes didn’t you say something?”  Her father glanced at his friend, a vulcan she assumed, and then back at her.

“We were there.  You looked amazing.  I’m so proud of you.”  She snapped at his low tone.

“Not proud enough to stick around and say so!”  She really was confused.  Why did he go through all the trouble of coming and then not see her.  Now he was giving her the same confused look.

“You didn’t want me here.”  She frowned and pursed her lips as she thought on that.  Two years ago when they had ran into each other at the conference she had hoped it would start a new at least long distance relationship.  But he never contacted her and she didn’t have clearance to contact a federation flagship on important missions.  She sent letters sporadically, but he never replied.

“You never asked!”  Now his face turned from concerned confusion to full blown puzzled.  He glanced at his friend again, but the Vulcan looked as confused, though a bit more stony about it.  She had too many Vulcan friends to believe he wasn’t reacting to this.

“I did ask.  I called three weeks ago.  Your boyfriend, Jake answered.  He asked you and you said to stay away.  I could hear you in the other room, I didn’t need him to relay the message.  Though he did try to soften it.”  Her father was gesturing now, which usually meant he was upset and confused.  It was one communication trait she had picked up of his.  She thought back.  Three weeks ago would have been studying for finals.  She would have remembered a call from someone, especially her father.

“I wasn’t ever asked.  Did you try again?  I would have liked to talk to you myself.”  Now her father was given her an almost disbelieving stare.  The Vulcan reached out to touch his shoulder.

“Leo…”

“But you never want to talk to me!  Everytime I’ve called you’ve been too busy or just plain don’t feel like it!”  Joanna frowned at the explosive response.

“’every time’?  When?”  Her father stared at her.  The Vulcan answered for him.

“Sixth day of each month, schedule permitting, at 1700 hours.”  She nearly rolled her eyes at the Vulcan answer, but it didn’t clear up anything, in fact, she was even more confused.  The fact that the Vulcan answered, instead of her father proved the validity beyond a doubt.  Even if she were willing to believe her father would lie, which she wasn’t, Vulcans don’t.

“I never got any of them.  Once a month for the last two years?”  Her father nodded jerkily.

“Before we ran into each other I called on your birthday and the first day of school, Christmas and Greens day.  Every year Jocelyn would let me.”  He felt herself rebel.  Jocelyn.  She stomped forward and grabbed his wrist.

“Come on!  We’re going home!”  She dragged him down the sidewalk back towards her house.  He didn’t protest too much, more stuttering and skipping to keep up with her.  The Vulcan followed sedately.

It didn’t take them long to get home.  They hadn’t gone far and she stomped up the staircase and into the living room where her friends were waiting for her.  They were coming from the kitchen putting away the remanents of the dinner they had just had.  Jake was talking with the guys in the living room.  The two guys had been her partners in her final dissertation and though none of her friends were terribly close to Jake, they seemed to tolerate him better than her female friends.  Honestly, she didn’t know quite why no one else saw how special he was.  Her mother was grudgingly accepting, but her acceptance would have been weird.

“Jake!  Why didn’t you tell me my dad called.”  He turned from the guys to give her a frown.

“Because he didn’t.”  He turned to her father.  “Don’t try to make me out to be a liar!”  She scoffed.  Inside, she did some mental calculations though.  Her mother popped by once every month or so and he was always here after dinner if not before so they would have likely been here every month when her father called.  She had already known her mother was a controling bitch.  How her father had fallen for the woman she’d never know.  Or rather, why her mother had thought him worth the subterfuge she hadn’t understood until recently.  Her mother could be pathetically manipulative and charming when it suited her. 

She had heard aweful stories about her father over the years, but she never believed any of them.  She loved her father and she remembered him as a kind and gentle man.  She had been angry he hadn’t been around and understood that part of her mother’s demands, but he had never ever been abusive, violent or threatening, even with words.  Not to her mother and certainly never to her.  No she had known for years her mother was a manipulative bitch.

She had also gotten a hold of the custody trial transcriptions and no wonder she had been denied her father.  Judge had fallen for her mother hook line and sinker.  Idiot.  Her father had lost everything during that trial.  She stared at Jake as he glanced at the doorway.  A moment later her mother walked through said doorway.  She saw her father freeze out of the corner of her eye, but that was ignored in view of the other discovery.  Her mother barely approved of Jake, but Jake obviously thought more of her mother.

Jake was still glancing at her uncertainly and she exploded.

“Get Out Of My HOUSE!”  Everyone seemed to levitate, but her shout was directed solely at Jake.  The man glared at her and stood up.

“Your House?!?  I live here too!”  She gave him a glare she had learned from her mother and stomped over to the desk.  In a drawer she brought out the paper agreement they had signed and tore it in half.  He hadn’t paid the last two months rent anyway.  She hissed at him icily.

“Now you don’t.  Out.  You can get your things tomorrow.”  It had clicked.  She had met the guy at a party her mother had dragged her too.  It had definitely been more her scene than her mother’s, but that had been the point.  Her mother’s excuse was it was an apology.  But she had met Jake there and he hadn’t left her side all night.  They had clicked right away, thinking the same thought it was almost scary.  It was scary!  Her mother was terrifying.

Well, she could be terrifying too.  She watched as her friends and her classmates backed her in the decision as her mother stared.  After Jake had stomped out of the house she spun to her mother.  Jocelyn wasn’t even looking at her.  She was staring harshly at the Doctor in the corner.  Her father wasn’t even looking her mother’s way though.  Her father may not have ever fought her mother much, but he didn’t back down either.  He stood his own ground as much as possible.

“Mother, thank you for coming today.  I think I’ll see you tomorrow.”  The message was clear.  She wanted her mother to go away.  Her mother looked at her and she saw the change come over the woman.  A sweet smile that was genuine as possible spread across her lips, with just a hint of hurt feeling.

“Honey, I don’t think-“

“Mother!”  The irritated tone must have given away just how annoyed she was, because her mother frowned at her, and after a glance at her father which he ignored, she nodded and left herself.  She sighed as her mother walked out the door and sank into a chair.  Her father was next to her almost as fast as her friends. 

“Joanna?”  She gave them a smile.  Her friends knew what she thought of her mother’s manipulations.  It had been her father’s absence that had driven her to maintain her relationship with her mother.  She couldn’t bear having no parents.

“Guys, can I have some time with my Dad?” 

\---

Leonard had let out a small sigh when Jocelyn had left.  He really didn’t need her digging into his old wounds.  He would stay together for his daughter’s sake, but Spock would have a mess of a mate to deal with later.  The Vulcan was already sending him worried, but reassuring feelings.  And protective anger. 

He had already guessed that introducing Spock to Jocelyn was a recipe for murder, which was why he had avoided the woman earlier.  He was quite glad she was gone.  He was similarily glad his daughter wanted to talk to hm without the protection of her friends present.  Three of them went upstairs.  The other two said their goodbyes and left.

He looked back at Joanna.  “Joanna?”  A tired smile came his way that looked just like his father it was scary. 

“How on earth did you put up with her for thirteen years, Dad?”  Leonard blinked at her. 

“ ‘Put up with?’  What do you mean Jo?”  She goggled at him. 

“Jocelyn.  Her manipulations.  How the blazes did you stay married to her that long?”  He frowned.

“Joanna, I’m not here to discuss my marriage to your mother.”  She jerked as she sat forward.

“How long?”  He raised an eyebrow in unconscious imitation of his mate.  “How long have you been trying to contact me?”  Leonard smiled as he sat on the chair next to hers.

“I never stopped.”  She looked at him and started to chuckle.  That chuckle turned into laughter which became hiccups.  He reached over and pulled her into a hug as those hiccups turned into sobs. 

“Daddy!”  He cradled his daughter to him.  His little girl, she was finally in his arms again.  After 10 long years, he was finally holding her close again.

“Always remember, Joanna.  Daddy loves Joanna more than life.  For all our  lives, Joanna is Daddy’s daughter. Nothing in the universe-“

She looked up at him with a smile “- or beyond” He nodded with a smile.

“- changes that.”  He squeezed her close.  It felt so good to finally have her in his arms again.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!”  Both McCoy’s looked up to see Jocelyn standing in the doorway.  Joanna rose, glaring at her mother.

“Mother!”

“I came back for my purse and I find- find-“  She was pointing at Leonard, who rose himself. 

She stomped over to him.  He could see her vibrate with anger.  Automatically his body tensed, waiting for the slap he knew was her favorite method of telling him she was truly angry.  Bracing himself to stay on his feet, he closed his eyes as her hand came up.

“That. Is. Enough.” 

He looked at the hand in surprise.  It was barely an inch from his face, but a stronger, thin set of fingers encircled the wrist and had stopped its momentum.  He looked over and nearly shuddered at the pure rage that was churning in his mate’s eyes.  Of course his ex didn’t see it, not knowing Spock as well as he.  She turned to him and nearly growled at him.

“You have no right!  No right to interfere with my family!  You need to leave.”  Spock raised an eyebrow slowly and Leonard mentally prepared for the cutting wit Spock was known for when truly annoyed.

“I believe that even ex-husbands have some rights including, but of course not limited to, to right to avoid being assaulted by their former spouse.  Indeed, I believe that right is even extended to current spouses.  Since you seem ignorant of these, I would be most happy to educate you.”  His polite PR voice washed over Leonard as he withheld his own amusement as his Vulcan verbally took his ex apart.  He had to admit, Spock was quite good at it.  He placed a hand on Spock’s arm though.  Amusing and nice as it might be, this would be easier without a champion.

“Its okay Spock.”  He turned to Jocelyn.  “Jocelyn, Joanna has the right to know me, if its what she wants.  My contact with my daughter is not something you have the right to control anymore.”  Jocelyn glared at him.  He didn’t even flinch.  He had expected that.

“No right!  I raised her!”

“Mother, Dad’s right.  I love you, but cut it out and leave Dad alone!”  Jocelyn laughed.

“Leave _him_ alone?  That was never our problem.  You want to know why I fell for Barney.  Because my husband was never there.  Barney was there and I loved it!”  She leaned closer to Leonard, but he stood his ground.  He knew he had let her down and that was why she had the affair.  “If you had come back, I could have stopped, but you never did.  No, you preferred your job over your family.  You still do and I won’t let you hurt our daughter-“

“Leave, Jocelyn!”  Everyone looked over at Joanna.  She was crying, but she was also glaring at her mother.  Leonard was the one who stepped forward.

“Joan-“  She turned and screeched at him.

“No!”  She looked back at her mother.  “I can’t watch anymore.  No more lies, Jocelyn!”  He watched as she collapsed in on herself and immediately came forwad to cradle her.  She gripped his sleeve as they kneeled next to each other and she sobbed.

“Joanna.”  She looked up at her Mother, ignoring Leonards comforting voice.

“I knew Dad had filed for divorce because of the affair.  I knew he thought he had driven you away because of work, but I never thought you blamed the entire affair on his work!”  Leonard looked up at his ex-wife in confusion.  “I found Barney!  He was working near my high school and I found him my senior year.” 

“Honey!”  She looked at her mother as she started forward.

“Don’t call me that!  You started the affair with him before I was eight!”  Leonard jumped.  Though he still held Joanna, he felt his attention turn to Jocelyn a moment.  He had ignored his family for some time before the divorce, but not six years.  Two years at the most, could be said. 

“You don’t hate Dad for ignoring you.  You hate him for divorcing you!  All that inheritance goes to me, not you now.”  Leonard looked at her, confused.

“Inheritance.”  She nodded, wiping her eyes and standing, glaring at her mother.

“I received a note from my grandfather’s will.  All his monetary fortune was to be given to either you in installments or should you ever divorce, your child in a trust fund.  I received it all when I turned 21.”  Leonard was now looking at Jocelyn with new eyes.  He had loved her for nearly 25 years, hating himself for destroying that love.  Spock and Jim had gone a lone way towards healing that empty hole, which Spock had eventually filled with his own unique brand of love.

“Jocelyn?”  He watched as she spat at them both.

“You used up the best years of my life and then dump me without that inheritance, it was mine!  I earned it, standing by you in medical school, scrawny disgusting idiot that you are, I couldn’t believe you had the backbone to divorce me!”  She turned ugly in front of him and he felt for anger at her betrayal, but all he really felt was sadness for everything he had missed and he had missed in their life.

“Enjoy your father, Joanna.  While he is here.  I’ll be on Tau Omega II when you find out what a worthless man he is.”  Leonard could see Spock vibrate as he restrained himself from lashing out at the person verbally tormenting his mate, but Leonard trusted his control and focused on his daughter.  She needed him now.

\---

Spock glanced behind him as Leonard and Joanna went thorugh another bout of tears.  This was fourth one in the hour since that maniac woman had left the house.  He had left them alone and gone to the kitchen to sit while they talked.  He could still hear enough to know they were emotionally working their way thorugh whatever was going on in their heads.  He had found her roommates in the kitchen, quite upset and returned with one of them with a drink for each McCoy.  Surprisingly, Joanna had all the ingrediants for a Mint Julep, though it was her second favorite, preferring a Bruja Cabana. 

Spock had sat with Joanna’s roommates, three girls in various sciences, for the last hour and after a brief discussion where he laid their fear at rest about his mate’s intentions, they had lapsed into science.  Two of them had heard of his work and they all enjoyed discussing the recent work in radiotherapy being applied to crops in certain circles.  Indeed he was about to ask another question when he felt a familiar hand rest on his shoulder.  The hurt, anger, healing, rawness, pain, love, hope and pure happiness spread through his body at the telepathic touch of his mate.  He turned to see Leo and Joanna join them at the table.    One of her friends spoke first.

“So you guys patch up?”  Joanna smiled at them.

“Yeah.  We’ve even got a schedule worked out so we can communicate often over subspace.”  They nodded, suppressing yawns they had been fighting for the last twenty minutes.  It was 0200 hours. 

“Good.  Than we’ll head to bed.  See you guys in the morning.”  She waved at Spock and Leo as the three of them disappeared back upstairs.  Spock looked at Leo, he looked just as exhausted and he hadn’t slept well the previous night.  Spock had finally decided his pacing was too self-destructive and if the human wasn’t going to sleep, he’d intice him into other, more pleasurable, activities. 

“Joanna, there’s something I wanted to tell you while I was here.”  He was glancing Spock’s way and Spock tensed for the news to hit Joanna, that she had been effectively added to a Vulcan family.

“Sure, Dad.”  Leo gestured to Spock.

“This is Spock.  He’s of the planet Vulcan.”  Her wry look told him she’d guessed that last part.  “He’s my mate.” 

She froze and moment before looking at him with new eyes.  “Mate?”  Both males nodded.  “As in Husband?”  Leo looked uneasy, but Spock nodded.  Close enough for her purposes.  They could explain the details later, when they weren’t so tired.  He blinked as she leaned closer to him.  She looked him up and down before glancing at her father.  In a brief move she shoved Leo off his chair and towards the floor.

Spock reached out and caught Leo instantly, kneeling on the floor next to him.  Leo simply turned to his daughter in alarm.  He hadn’t batted an eyelash at Spock’s quick move.  Spock felt a part of him relax at the trust Leo showed him, it hadn’t occurred to the human he wouldn’t be caught.

“What was that for?”  Joanna smiled in the same manner Leo did when he felt like he had been validated.

“Good enough for me.”  She stood, yawning.  “You guys are welcome to stay the night, but I think the only free bed is Jake’s room.”  Spock shook his head.

“We have a hotel room downtown.”  She nodded.

“M’kay.  I’ll see you guys tomorrow then?  How about Marchok’s for lunch.”  He felt Leo’s shoulders shake in amusement as he chuckled.  Leo stood and pulled her into a hug.

“Sure thing.  1 o’clock.”  Spock stood next to him.  “Good night Jo.”

“G’night Dad.”  They turned and headed for the door.  Spock stopped when Leo turned back a moment.

“Jo?  Remember, I love you.”  Joanna smiled at his mate.  “Daddy loves Joanna more than life.  For all our lives, Joanna is Daddy’s daughter. Nothing in the universe or beyond-“

“Can change that.”  The fact that they finished the quote together told Spock they’d be fine.  He wrapped an arm around his human’s thin waist to keep him warm on the walk back to town, at least far enough to hail a transport.  He felt Leo lean against him and sigh.  He knew eventually Leo would want to talk about his ex and what he had learned tonight, but for right now…

“Bohraya, When we get back to the room, let’s take a bath.”  Spock felt his entire being respond to that rough voice in his ear.  Yes, for right now, his mate was very happy.


End file.
